From Beyond (1986)
| running time = 86 min. | country = USA | language = English | budget = $4,500,000 | gross revenue = $1,261,000 | preceded by = | followed by = }} From Beyond is an American horror film of the science fiction subgenre. It is based on a 1920 short story by acclaimed Gothic horror writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The film was adapted by director Stuart Gordon and written by Dennis Paoli based on a story treatment drafted by Paoli, Gordon and Brian Yuzna. The film was produced by Charles Band's Empire Pictures and released theatrically in the United States on October 24th, 1986. The movie stars Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Ted Sorel, Ken Foree and Carolyn Purdy-Gordon. Plot as Katherine McMichaels.]] Doctor Edward Pretorius (Ted Sorel) is a scientist who has developed the Resonator, a machine which allows whoever is within range to see beyond normal perceptible reality. His assistant, Doctor Crawford Tillinghast, activates the machine and soon sees strange creatures in the air. When he is bitten by one of them, he urges Pretorius to turn the machine off. However, the crazed Pretorius refuses, claiming that the machine's effects on his brain are giving him an "orgasm of the mind." Events transpire to the point where Crawford escapes Pretorius' attic laboratory with an axe, fleeing outside. When the police arrive, they find Pretorius decapitated. Crawford is arrested for the murder. Crawford is committed to a psychiatric ward, where he is treated by Doctor Katherine McMichaels. After Crawford gives his account of Pretorius' death, Katherine conducts a brain scan and notice that Crawford's pineal gland has grown. Katherine, convinced of Crawford's innocence, decides to let him return to the house in order to show her the Resonator. They are accompanied by Detective Bubba Brownlee, who investigated Pretorius' death. Upon returning to the house, Katherine and Crawford rebuild the Resonator. Crawford reactivates the machine, which causes more creatures to appear. A severely deformed Pretorius, still alive, appears in the attic and tells the trio of a world beyond that is more pleasurable than normal reality. Pretorius' body gruesomely breaks apart when Crawford attempts to touch him, leading Bubba to draw his gun and fire at the mad doctor. Crawford shuts off The Resonator, making Pretorius and the creatures vanish. It is now morning, and the three discuss the creatures over breakfast. Katherine - who insists that the Resonator could possibly cure schizophrenia - suggests that they turn the machine back on, but Bubba and Crawford disagree. They all go to sleep, each with a headache. But while everyone is sleeping, Katherine gets back up to feel the pleasure from the machine and turns it back on, bringing forth a worried Crawford and the now almost unrecognizable Edward who is mutated and covered in slime. Bubba enters the scene as Edward grabs Katherine and rips off her clothes, preparing to eat her mind and take her to the world of beyond. Crawford and Bubba go down into the basement to shut off the power, but encounter a giant worm-monster, prompting Crawford to conclude the vibration waves permeate the entire house. The worm begins to devour Crawford, but Bubba succeeds in shutting off the power, bringing a hairless Crawford back, and sending Edward away. The freed Katherine then turns off the machine and meets the others downstairs, crying and feeling ashamed and horrified for turning it back on. Bubba decides that they should leave the house, but as Katherine puts lotion on Crawford's inflamed skin, she expresses her desire to monitor the machine to figure out where the creatures are coming from. Bubba refuses and tells her to go get dressed. She begins to explore other parts of the house, finding Edward's old S&M outfits and putting one on. She then starts to tease a sleeping Crawford, until Bubba comes in and tells her to snap out of it, which she does, throwing a robe over the outfit. All of a sudden the power returns and The Resonator turns back on, as all three of them run up into the attic to deactivate it. Katherine and Crawford are attacked by little bee-like creatures that strip the flesh off of their victims, and as Bubba pushes them out of the way, he is devoured to the bone. A now almost fully mutated Edward, without any legs or proper arms, grabs Katherine and starts to drag her flesh torn, bleeding body towards him. Crawford fights Edward and succeeds in freeing Katherine but then his enlarged pineal gland pops out of his forehead like an antenna. Katherine short circuits the machine by spraying it repeatedly with a fire extinguisher. She then takes Crawford back to the hospital, where she is evaluated for insanity and schizophrenia, since her story was just like Crawford's and she is blamed by Dr. Bloch and the police for this evening's events. Vindictive Dr. Bloch then orders for Katherine to get shock treatment. Doctor Bloch then goes to perform an autopsy on an undead Crawford, who is on the lookout for brains to eat with the use of his antenna. As Katherine is being prepared for shock treatment by a sadistic staff member, Crawford attacks and eats Doctor Bloch's brain. Katherine escapes, gets new clothes, and drives back to the house with a bomb. Crawford follows her on a hijacked ambulance car. Katherine puts the bomb on The Resonator, sets it for 5 minutes, and goes to leave, only to have Crawford chain her up in Edward's S&M room, claiming that he loves her. As he is about to eat her brain, she bites off his exposed, enlarged pineal gland, reverting him to his senses. However, Crawford is pulled away by a completely deformed, mutated Edward. Meanwhile, Katherine manages to attract the leech creatures that sense her movement and bite through the straps, releasing her. Crawford fights Edward, only to be eaten by him. Edward chases Katherine into the laboratory, where Crawford's form begins to tear out through Edward's skin and muscles. The two fight for the control of the deformed body, until it dissolves in its own digestive fluids. Katherine finally frees herself and jumps out the attic window, right as the whole attic explodes. She lands on her legs, breaking one, and as the neighbors gather around her, she goes from sobbing to laughing hysterically as she tells them, "It ate him!". Wikipedia:From Beyond (film) Cast Production & Release * From Beyond is based on a 1920 short story by author H.P. Lovecraft. The story appeared in Vol. 1 Nol. 10 of The Fantasy Fan, cover-dated June, 1934. * Production on From Beyond began in January, 1986. Principal filming on the movie concluded in April, 1986. * The movie was shot at the Empire Pictures studio in Rome, Italy. * From Beyond grossed $1,261,000 in the United States. It was screened in the UK on June 7th, 1987 on thirty-five screens where it took in £19,959. * From Beyond was released to home video in VHS format by Vestron Video in the US and the UK on September 27th, 1989. Amazon.com; From Beyond; VHS * From Beyond was released to DVD as an unrated director's cut by MGM Home Entertainment on September 11th, 2007. The DVD features redone cover art as well as a redone logo design. It includes deleted scenes that were removed from the original cut so as to avoid an X-rating. Amazon.com; From Beyond; DVD Cast & Crew * This is the second feature film directed by Stuart Gordon. He previously directed the 1985 sci-fi gorefest Re-Animator. * This is the second of three films to star both Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton. They also appeaer together in 1985's Re-Animator and 1995's Castle Freak for Full Moon Entertainment. * Studio executives opposed the casting of Barbara Crampton as Katherine McMichaels because they thought she was "too young to be believable as a psychologist". Stuart Gordon, however, insisted that Crampton be cast, and she was. * Associate producer Bruce William Curtis is credited as Bruce Curtis in this film. Notes & Trivia * The street address seen on the house is 666. This number is frequently associated with the devil and Satanism. * The character of Doctor Bloch is named after Robert Bloch, the author of the novel upon which Psycho is based. Bloch was a friend of writer H.P. Lovecraft. * Doctor Pretorious's character is named after Doctor Septimus Pretorius, Henry Frankenstein's former teacher featured in the 1935 James Whale film The Bride of Frankenstein. * Producer Charles Band and actress Barbara Crampton share the same birthday. * This film was released on the same day as Trick or Treat. This Day in History Other events that took place on October 24th include: Recommendations * Re-Animator * Bride of Re-Animator * Beyond Re-Animator * Castle Freak * Frankenstein * The Thing * Bride of Frankenstein * Necronomicon * The Dunwich Horror * Beyond the Dunwich Horror * Cthulhu Mansion * Videodrome See also External Links * * * * From Beyond at Wikipedia * * * * * References ---- Category:1986 films Category:Empire Pictures Category:Ken Foree Category:Barbara Crampton